Invitalia, Italy's national development agency, owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy, has announced the creation of DRI d'Italia Spa, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will have the goal of building the first direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in Italy. This is "a decisive step to relaunch and reconvert, in a green way, the Italian steel sector, in line with the EU Commission's strategy of guaranteeing carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050", said Invitalia in a press release.
The new company, whose board of directors is formed by Franco Bernabè, president, Stefano Cao, CEO, and by Ernesto Somma, Tiziana de Luca and Paola Bologna, will start its activity by carrying out feasibility studies from an industrial, environmental, economic and financial point of view, for the design, construction and management of DRI plants.
DRI d'Italia has an initial share capital of €35 million, through funds assigned by the Ministry of Economy, which may be increased, in relation to the progress of activities, up to €70 million.
With DRI d'Italia, "Italy aligns itself with the other European countries that are leading the transition towards carbon neutrality of steel, such as Sweden, Germany and France, where production plants are being designed," Invitalia added.
No indications were provided on where the new plants could be built. Currently, Invitalia is still engaged in due diligence for taking a stake in JSW Steel Italy. Invitalia has been running Acciaierie d'Italia, formerly known as Ilva, since April 2021, through a public-private partnership with ArcelorMittal.